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THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

CIRCULAR No. 89/2000/TT-BTC OF AUGUST 28, 2000 GUIDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GOVERNMENT�S DECREE No. 49/1999/ND-CP ON SANCTIONS AGAINST ADMINISTRATIVE VIOLATIONS IN THE FIELD OF ACCOUNTING

In furtherance of the Government�s Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP on sanctions against administrative violations in the field of accounting, the Finance Ministry hereby provides concrete guidance as follows:

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. Administrative violations in the field of accounting

Administrative violations in the field of accounting are acts of individuals or organizations that have intentionally or unintentionally breached the rules on the State management of accounting, but not seriously enough to be examined for penal liability, which, however, according to law provisions, must be administratively sanctioned. Depending on the seriousness of the violations and the damage caused thereby, administrative sanctions shall be imposed, including forms of additional sanction and other measures when they are deemed necessary.

2. Subjects of sanction and scope of application

a/ Vietnamese citizens aged 18 or older must bear administrative liability for all administrative violation acts they commit in the field of accounting and must be sanctioned according to the provisions of the Government�s Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 and the guidance in this Circular.

b/ Units and organizations in the system of State budget revenues and expenditures as well as mass organizations� funding; political organizations; socio-political organizations; social organizations; socio-professional organizations; enterprises of all economic sectors and individual business households (hereinafter called organizations for short) must bear the administrative liability for all administrative violation acts they have committed in the field of accounting and be sanctioned according to the provisions of Decree No. 49/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 of the Government and the guidance in this Circular.

c/ Foreign individuals and organizations that lawfully operate in the Vietnamese territory and are subject to implement the accounting work according to Vietnamese law, if committing administrative violation acts in the field of accounting prescribed in Chapter II of Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP, shall be sanctioned like Vietnamese citizens and organizations mentioned above. Where it is otherwise provided for by the international agreements which Vietnam has signed or acceded to, such agreements shall apply.

3. Principle for sanctioning administrative violations in the field of accounting

The sanctioning of administrative violations must be effected by competent persons under the guidance in Part III of this Circular, according to the principles:

a/ For acts of violation committed by individuals, the sanctions shall be imposed on such individuals;

b/ For acts of violation committed by organizations, the sanctions shall be imposed on such organizations.

The sanctioned organizations must abide by the sanctioning decisions and at the same time determine the faults of each individual who has directly committed such administrative violation so as to decide the discipline and material responsibility.

c/ An act of administrative violation in the field of accounting shall only be subject to single sanction; each organization or individual committing many administrative violations shall be sanctioned for each act of violation; many individuals jointly commit an act of administrative violation, the sanction shall be imposed on each of such individuals;

d/ All acts of administrative violation in the field of accounting, when detected, must be immediately stopped and be handled in a timely and just manner according to the sanctioning procedures and principles, and at the same time appropriate measures must be taken to overcome the consequences thereof;

e/ Administrative sanctions shall not be imposed in cases where the violators are determined through medical examinations as having suffered from mental diseases, losing their cognition capability and being incapable of controlling by themselves their acts during the time the violations are committed.

4. Statute of limitations for sanctions

a/ The statute of limitations for sanctioning an administrative violation in the field of accounting shall be 2 years from the date such administrative violation in the field of accounting is committed;

b/ In cases where a violation is prosecuted or decided for trial according to the criminal procedures but later decided by competent authorities to suspend the investigation or the case, the administrative sanction shall be imposed on acts with signs of administrative violation. The statute of limitations for sanction against the administrative violation in the field of accounting in the above mentioned case shall be 3 months from the date of issuing the decision to suspend the investigation or the case;

c/ Where individuals or organizations continue committing other violations during the sanctioning statute of limitations or deliberately evade or obstruct the sanctioning, the above statute of limitations for sanction shall not apply.

5. Cases of non-sanction against administrative violations in the field of accounting

a/ Sanctions shall not be imposed on administrative violations in the field of accounting if they are detected after the statute of limitations for sanction prescribed in Section 4, Part I of this Circular have expired;

b/ Acts of administrative violation in the field of accounting, which carry signs of criminal offenses under the provisions of law and their dossiers have been transferred by the local administrations or financial inspection body to the competent agencies for settlement;

c/ If acts of administrative violation in the field of accounting lead to tax evasion, tax frauds, they shall be subject to sanctions against administrative violation in the field of taxation according to the current regulations;

d/ The violators are persons suffering from mental diseases or other singular ailments, which have deprived them of the capability to cognize or self-control their acts;

e/ Citizens aged under 18, if committing acts of administrative violations in the field of accounting, shall be sanctioned according to Article 6 of the July 6, 1995 Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations;

f/ Due to unexpected events, emergency situations, natural disasters or enemy sabotage, which individuals or organizations cannot know in advance or are compelled to act in order to ward off the dangers which actually cause harms to the common interests.

6. Forms of sanction against administrative violations in the field of accounting

For each administrative violation in the field of accounting, the violating individual or organization shall be subject only to one of the following forms of principal sanction:

- Warning;

- Fine.

Besides, the violating organization or individual may also be subject to one or many forms of additional sanction and other measures, such as confiscation of material evidences of the violation, forcible restoration of the initial status altered due to the administrative violation.

7. Extenuating circumstances in sanctions against administrative violations in the field of accounting

Individuals and/or organizations have:

a/ Acted to reduce harms caused by the violations or voluntarily overcome the consequences thereof and paid the compensation therefor;

b/ Committed the violations in circumstance of coercion, particular difficulty or force majeure.

8. Aggravating circumstances in sanctions against administrative violations in the field of accounting

Individuals and/or organizations have committed acts of

a/ Violation in an organized manner;

b/ Violation more than once, in a systematic manner or relapse into the violation during the statute of limitations for sanctioning the administrative violations in the field of accounting;

c/ Inducing, enticing or coercing persons who rely on them materially and spiritually to commit the violation;

d/ Abusing their positions and powers to commit the violations;

e/ Taking advantage of the situation of war, natural calamities or other particularly difficult circumstances of the society to commit the violations;

f/ Escaping after committing the violations, concealing administrative violations.

9. Grounds to make conclusions on administrative violations in the field of accounting, to decide sanctioning forms and levels

a/ The provisions in Chapter II on acts of violation, sanctioning forms and levels in Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 of the Government and the guidance in this Circular.

b/ The current legal documents of Vietnam on accounting such as the Ordinance on Accounting and Statistics, the Statute of State Accounting Organization and the current accounting standards and regimes promulgated by the Finance Ministry or the competent agencies with the consent of the former.

II. ACTS OF ADMINISTRATIVE VIOLATIONS IN THE FIELD OF ACCOUNTING, SANCTIONING

FORMS AND LEVELS

Pursuant to the provisions in Chapter II of Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP, the acts of administrative violation, sanctioning forms and concrete sanctioning levels shall be as follows:

1. Violations against the competence to promulgate and apply the accounting regimes

1.1. A fine of between VND 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 for first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 5,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 10,000,000 for one of the following acts if they involve aggravating circumstances:

a/ Improperly implementing the State regulations on competence to promulgate the regimes on accounting vouchers, accounting books, accounting accounts and financial reports or the principles prescribing the accounting regimes;

b/ Requesting, stipulating or guiding the subordinates to make accounting vouchers, accounting books, account system and/or financial report forms in contravention of the current legislation on accounting;

c/ Failing to register the accounting regime or making the accounting regime registration later than time-limit prescribed in the current regulations for units subject to the prescribed accounting regime registration, except cases permitted in writing by the Finance Ministry to prolong the time limit for accounting regime registration;

d/ Modifying accounting vouchers, accounting books and/or financial reports, opening more accounts or changing the accounting methods without the approval in writing by the competent authorities as prescribed.

1.2. For acts of violation stated at Points a, b and d above, the sanctioned units are forced to strictly adhere to the current accounting regimes and subject to the confiscation of the material evidences of the violations as form of additional sanction.

2. Violations of the principles on the use of accounting vouchers and accounting accounts

2.1. A fine of between VND 500,000 and 1,500,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 3,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up VND 5,000,000 for one of the following acts if aggravating circumstances are involved:

a/ Failing to abide by the principle of accounting voucher recording, including the electronic voucher regimes, in reflecting arising economic and financial activities on accounting vouchers;

b/ Using invoices, receipts and/or accounting vouchers in contravention of the Finance Ministry�s regulations or without permission of the competent bodies, including wrong inscription of economic contents on invoices, receipts and/or vouchers; using fake invoices, receipts or vouchers or expired invoices and vouchers; using invoice and/or receipt forms printed by oneself without approval of the Finance Ministry;

c/ Selling blank financial invoices without causing serious economic consequences yet. Where serious consequences are caused, the cases must be transferred to competent bodies for settlement according to the criminal procedures;

d/ Buying financial invoices in contravention of the State�s regulations on management of invoices, receipts and vouchers;

e/ Losing financial invoices or accounting vouchers without reporting thereon in time to the functional management bodies according to the State�s regulations.

For acts of violation mentioned at Points b, c, d and e above, if tax evasion or tax frauds are entailed, they shall be subject to sanctions against administrative violations in the field of tax under the current regulations.

2.2. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and 5,000,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 10,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 15,000,000 if aggravating circumstances are involved in the acts of letting other subjects use the unit�s accounts for money receipt and transfer in violation of the financial and monetary management disciplines.

2.3. The form of additional sanction by confiscating material evidences of the administrative violations shall be applied against acts of violation stipulated in Clause 2.1 above (except cases of invoice/receipt loss).

3. Counterfeiting accounting vouchers and/or accounting books, falsely declaring and untruthfully reporting on accounting figures

3.1. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and 5,000,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 10,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 15,000,000 for one of the following acts if aggravating circumstances are involved:

a/ Falsifying accounting vouchers, accounting books; making accommodation vouchers; making vouchers wrongly against the contents of economic operations which have arisen; counterfeiting signatures, stamps; making book-entries not evidenced by accounting vouchers; establishing two systems of accounting books with different contents recorded therein;

b/ Falsely declaring figures, making untruthful reports; making financial reports not true to the accounting books or the reality;

c/ Forcing other persons to counterfeit accounting vouchers and/or books, falsely declaring figures and making untruthful reports on accounting figures.

3.2. The form of additional sanction by confiscating material evidence of the administrative violations shall also be applied to the acts stipulated at Points a and b of Clause 3.1 above.

4. Violations of the accounting principles of timeliness and completeness

4.1. Warning or a fine of between VND 300,000 and 1,000,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 2,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 4,000,000 for one of the following acts if aggravating circumstances are involved:

a/ Recording accounting vouchers not in time as stipulated by the accounting regime: failing to make accounting vouchers when economic operations have already occurred; failing to complete the voucher making when economic operations have terminated;�

b/ Recording accounting books not in time as stipulated by the accounting regime: failing to record the accounting books daily with regard to books which require daily recording and closure; failing to record accounting books when the accounting period has ended;�

c/ Making or submitting financial reports not in time as stipulated by the accounting regime, including cases where such reports have already been made but not submitted in time.

4.2. A fine of between VND 500,000 and 2,000,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 4,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 7,000,000 for one of the following acts if aggravating circumstances are involved:

a/ Recording accounting vouchers incompletely according to the accounting regime�s provisions on forms;

b/ Recording accounting books incompletely as stipulated by the accounting regime;

c/ Making financial reports incompletely as stipulated by the accounting regime.

5. Violations of the regulations on accounting book opening, recording and closing and on inventory

5.1. Warning or a fine of between VND 200,000 and 500,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 1,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 2,000,000 for one of the following acts, if aggravating circumstances are involved:

a/ Opening or closing accounting books in contravention of the State�s regulations on accounting: opening and closing accounting books not according to the accounting year and the provisions of the accounting regime; failing to correctly carry forward the balance of the previous accounting year into the new accounting year; failing to compare figures of various accounting books;�

b/ Recording the accounting books unclearly: writing on incorrect lines or columns; writing with improper ink as prescribed;�

c/ Correcting accounting books not according to the methods prescribed by the accounting regime; making erasion or crossing out in accounting books.

5.2. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and 5,000,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 10,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 15,000,000 for acts of recording or calculating figures in the accounting books not according to the contents and methods prescribed by the accounting regime, if aggravating circumstances are invoiced.

5.3. A fine of between VND 1,000,000 and 3,000,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 8,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 15,000,000 for one of the following acts, if aggravating circumstances are involved:

a/ Selling goods without making the financial invoices, without making entries in goods sale accounting books;

b/ Reflecting untruthfully the actually arising turnover like cutting a part of the turnover or increasing accommodation turnover in the reporting year.

For acts of violation stated at Points a and b above, if entailing the tax evasion or tax frauds, they shall also be subject sanctions against administrative violations in the field of taxation according to the current regulations.

5.4. A fine of between VND 500,000 and 1,000,000 for the first time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 4,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 7,000,000 for one of the following acts if aggravating circumstances are involved:

a/ Failing to comply or having improperly complied with the State regulations on asset inventory: failing to make inventories at the prescribed time points; failing to compare books and compare the inventoried figures with the actual figures as stipulated;�

b/ Failing to handle or improperly handling the asset inventory results as stipulated by the State.

5.5. A fine of between VND 3,000,000 and 6,000,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 15,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 20,000,000 for acts of putting outside the accounting books assorted assets and capital money, if aggravating circumstances are involved.

In addition to the sanctions, the violating organizations and individuals shall also have to pay to the State the value of damage caused by their above-mentioned administrative violations regarding the accounting.

6. Violations of the regimes of reporting and supplying accounting documents

A fine of between VND 1,000,000 and 3,000,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 8,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 15,000,000 for one of the following acts, if aggravating circumstances are involved:

6.1. Making financial reports not according to the forms prescribed by the competent bodies;

6.2. Failing to comply or having improperly complied with the provisions on supply of accounting materials related to carrying out economic activities under the agreements already signed with foreign countries and to other economic relations at the requests of the functional bodies according to the provisions of law;

6.3. Failing to report, falsely reporting, or reporting not fully on the contents requested by the State or as stipulated by the competent bodies on the situation of borrowing and using foreign loans not through the State and the domestic financial and banking systems according to the provisions of law;

6.4. Failing to submit the periodical financial reports according to the stipulation of the financial or banking agencies on the units� economic activities abroad;

6.5. The financial reports are not audited according to the provisions of law.

7. Violations of the accounting inspection regime

7.1. A fine of between VND 1,000,000 and 3,000,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 8,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 15,000,000 for one of the following acts, if aggravating circumstances are involved:

a/ Obstructing the inspection or failing to carry out the petitions of the inspecting organizations on accounting without plausible reasons;

b/ Delaying, avoiding or deliberately refusing to supply accounting materials, vouchers, books and/or financial reports or failing to make reports, at the request of the inspecting organizations;

c/ Correcting, modifying accounting vouchers, accounting books while the financial and accounting inspections and examinations are being conducted. Failing to observe the regime of accounting self-inspection according to the State�s regulations;

d/ Failing to obey the competent body�s order on sealing or having sealed not according to regulations the accounting dossiers, materials, vouchers, books, fund safes and/or assets as prescribed by law;

e/ Arbitrarily breaking, removing or altering the sealing status of warehouses, safes, gold and silver, gems, vouchers, accounting books, dossiers on loan and payment, mortgage, guaranty or sealed or temporarily seized material evidences, but without causing consequences. For these acts, the detecting organizations or individuals shall have to carefully scrutinize their seriousness; if signs of criminal offenses are found, they must compile and transfer the dossiers to the competent bodies for settlement according to the criminal procedures.

7.2. Subject to the application of other measures being the forced restoration of the initial status, with regard to acts of correcting, modifying accounting vouchers, accounting books; acts of arbitrarily breaking, removing or altering the sealing status of warehouses, safes, accounting vouchers, books, dossiers or sealed material evidences.

8. Violations of the regime of keeping the accounting vouchers, books, financial reports

8.1. A fine of between VND 200,000 and 500,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 2,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 4,000,000 for one of the following acts, if aggravating circumstances are involved:

a/ Keeping the accounting dossiers and documents not according to regulations;

b/ Using the archived accounting materials in contravention of regulations.

8.2. A fine of between VND 500,000 and 1,000,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 4,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 7,000,000 for one of the following acts: leaving to damage, losing accounting vouchers, accounting books and/or financial reports which are being in the archiving period due to the irresponsibility, if aggravating circumstances are involved.

8.3. A fine of between VND 1,000,000 and 3,000,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 8,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 15,000,000 for one of the following acts, if aggravating circumstances are involved:

a/ Destroying or abandoning accounting vouchers, accounting books and/or financial reports when the prescribed duration for their archival has not expired yet;

b/ Destroying or abandoning the expired accounting vouchers, accounting books and/or financial reports not according to the prescribed procedures;

c/ Destroying or abandoning the expired accounting vouchers, accounting books and/or financial reports not in accordance with competence or ultra vires.

9. Violations of the principles on organization of accounting

9.1. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and 5,000,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 10,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 15,000,000 for one of the following acts, if aggravating circumstances are involved:

a/ Assigning accountants to concurrently hold the posts of warehouse keepers, cashiers or material suppliers in contravention of the State�s regulations on accounting;

b/ Employing persons to work as accountants, warehouse keepers or cashiers, who are not allowed by law to do such jobs;

c/ Failing to arrange people or to organize sections to perform the accounting work according to the State�s regulations on accounting.

9.2. A fine of between VND 3,000,000 and 6,000,000 for the first-time violations or those involving extenuating circumstances; a fine of up to VND 15,000,000 for the second-time violations; a fine of up to VND 20,000,000 for one of the following acts, if aggravating circumstances are involved:

a/ Appointing chief accountants who are ex-convicts or old lag and in the period of being banned from holding such post, or who were disciplined for their violations of the accounting and financial operations;

b/ Appointing persons who are professionally unqualified and inexperienced for accounting work according to the prescribed standards to the post of chief accountant.

9.3. Subject to the application of other measures being the transfer of appointed cadres and chief accountants as mentioned above to other jobs.

10. Transfer of dossiers on administrative violations in the field of accounting for penal liability examination

a/ When deeming that acts of administrative violation in the field of accounting are serious, showing criminal signs, the competent persons shall have to transfer the dossiers to the bodies competent to handle criminal cases for settlement.

b/ To strictly forbid the retaining of cases of administrative violation in the field of accounting, which show signs of criminal offenses, for administrative handling.

III. SANCTIONING COMPETENCE, SANCTIONED ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS, SANCTIONING PROCEDURES

1. Competence to sanction administrative violations in the field of accounting

a/ Financial inspectors (including the tax inspectors) at various levels, who are being on official duty, are competent to impose warning or a fine of VND 200,000 for acts of administrative violation in the field of accounting, prescribed in Clause 1, Article 9; Clause 1, Article 12, of Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP.

In case of necessity, forms of additional sanction and other measures prescribed in Articles 5, 6, 7 and 11 of Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP may also apply.

b/ Chief financial inspectors of the provincial/municipal Finance-Pricing Services are competent to impose warning or a total fine of up to VND 10,000,000 for acts of administrative violations in the field of accounting, prescribed in Chapter II of Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP.

In case of necessity, forms of additional sanction and other measures prescribed in Articles 5, 6, 7, 11 and 13 of Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP may also apply.

c/ The chief financial inspector of the Finance Ministry is competent to impose warning or a total fine of up to VND 20,000,000 for acts of administrative violations in the field of accounting, prescribed in Chapter II of Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP.

In case of necessity, forms of additional sanction and other measures prescribed in Articles 5, 6, 7, 11 and 13 of Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP may also apply.

d/ The presidents of the People�s Committees of the urban districts, rural districts, provincial towns and cities are competent to impose warning or a total fine of up to VND 10,000,000 for acts of administrative violation in the field of accounting, prescribed in Chapter II of Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP.

In case of necessity, forms of additional sanction and other measures prescribed in Articles 5, 6, 7, 11 and 13 of Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP may also apply.

e/ The presidents of the People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities are competent to impose warning or a total fine of up to VND 100,000,000 for acts of administrative violation in the field of accounting, prescribed in Chapter II of Decree No.49/1999-ND-CP.

In case of necessity, form of additional sanction and other measures prescribed in Articles 5, 6, 7, 11 and 13 of Decree No. 49/1999/ND-CP may also apply.

2. Authorization to sanction administrative violations in the field of accounting

Where persons competent to sanction administrative violations prescribed in Clauses 2 and 3, Article 15 and Clauses 1 and 2, Article 16 of Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 of the Government are absent, their deputies, authorized by such persons, are competent to sanction according to their competence.

3. Determination and assignment of competence to sanction administrative violations in the field of accounting

- The People�s Committees of the districts, the provinces and centrally-run cities are competent to sanction administrative violations in the field of accounting in their respective localities;

- The financial inspection agencies at all levels are competent to sanction administrative violations in the field of accounting under their respective management;

- Other agencies having no competence to sanction administrative violations in the field of accounting mentioned above, if detecting acts of administrative violation in the field of accounting, shall have to make records on the acts of violation and transfer the dossiers to the competent agencies for settlement.

- Where the agencies with sanctioning competence deem that the acts of administrative violation in the field of accounting are beyond their competence, they must transfer the dossiers to the competent authorities for settlement.

- Where acts of administrative violation in the field of accounting fall under the sanctioning competence of many agencies, the sanctioning of such administrative violations shall be carried out by the agency which receives and processes the dossiers first.

4. Procedures for sanctioning administrative violations in the field of accounting

The procedures for sanctioning administrative violations in the field of accounting shall comply with the provisions in Chapter VI of the Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations of July 6, 1995, are guided in detail as follows:

- Warning shall be imposed on the first-time violations due to objective causes or involving extenuating circumstances. The decision on warning penalty must be made in writing; when deeming it necessary, the agencies issuing the sanctioning decisions may send the sanctioning decisions to the administrations of the localities where the violators reside or to the agencies which manage the violators;

- When detecting any acts of administrative violation in the field of accounting, the detecting agencies may order the immediate suspension thereof and proceed with the making of the record on the administrative violations. Such a record must be made in 2 copies and signed by the record maker, the violator and the representative of the unit of the violator;

- Within 15 days from the date the record is made, the agency with sanctioning competence must issue the sanctioning decision. Where a violation involves many complicated circumstances which must be verified, the above time limit may be extended but for not more than 1 months;

- Where a decision on a fine of VND 2,000,000 or more is issued, such decision must also be sent to the People�s Procuracy of the same level for information;

- When deciding to sanction a person who has committed many acts of administrative violation, the competent person shall decide form of sanctioning each act of violation; if the sanctioning forms constitute the pecuniary penalty, they must be aggregated into a sanctioning level. Where many persons commit one or many acts of administrative violation, each violator must be given a separate sanctioning decision;

- Sanctioning decisions take effect immediately after their signing, except where they contain specific provisions, and shall be sent to the sanctioned organizations and individuals within 3 days. The sanctioned organizations and individuals shall have to immediately execute the sanctioning decisions upon the receipt thereof.

5. Coercive execution of decisions to sanction administrative violations in the field of accounting

The coercive execution of decisions on sanctioning administrative violations in the field of accounting shall comply with the provisions in Article 55 of the Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations of July 6, 1995, being guided in detail as follows:

- 5 days after the receipt of the sanctioning decisions, if the sanctioned organizations or individuals fail to voluntarily execute the decisions, the presidents of the People�s Committees of the urban districts, rural districts, provincial towns, provinces or centrally-run cities, specialized financial chief inspectors of the levels of provincial/municipal Finance Service and Finance Ministry are entitled to:

+ Request banks, State Treasury or other credit institutions to deduct money from the accounts of the sanctioned organizations or individuals for payment of fines.

The above-mentioned credit institutions, after receiving the official dispatches together with the sanctioning decisions, shall have to base themselves on the money amounts inscribed in the sanctioning decisions to implement the regime of giving priority to deduction for fine payment.

+ Coordinate with other functional agencies in applying other coercise measures for the enforcement of the sanctioning decisions.

- For all cases of administrative violation subject to the application of the form of pecuniary penalty, when collecting fines, the fine collecting agencies shall have to use the receipt issued by the Finance Ministry. The collected fine amount must be remitted into the State budget in strict accordance with the chapter, category, clause and item as prescribed in the State Budget Index. The regime on management of fine collection receipts and the principles for deduction from actually collected fine amounts for rewards shall comply with the current legal documents of the State.

- The handling of material evidences and seized violating means shall comply with the provisions in Article 52 of the Ordinance on Handling Administrative Violations of July 6, 1995.

6. The statute of limitations for enforcement of decisions on sanctioning administrative violations in the field of accounting

- The decisions on sanctioning administrative violations in the field of accounting shall have no effect for implementation after one year from the date of issuance. During this time limit, if the violating individuals or organizations continue committing administrative violations in the field of accounting, they are considered as having committed the violations more than once which shall serve as basis for considering the aggravating circumstances before issuing the sanctioning decisions. Past the above time limit, if the individuals or units continue committing the violations, such violations are considered the first-time violations.

- Where the sanctioned individuals and/or organizations deliberately evade or delay the execution of sanctioning decisions, the statute of limitations prescribed in this article shall not apply.

IV. COMPLAINTS, DENUNCIATIONS

1. Complaints, denunciations

Complaints, denunciations and the settlement of complaints and denunciations about decisions on sanctioning administrative violations in the field of accounting prescribed in Article 24 of Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 of the Government on sanctioning administrative violations in the field of accounting shall comply with the provisions in Articles 87, 88 and 90 of the Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations of July 6, 1995.

2. Competence to settle complaints

a/ The presidents of the People�s Committees of the level of districts and provincial towns shall settle complaints about their decisions on sanctioning administrative violations in the field of accounting;

The presidents of the People�s Committees of the level of provinces and centrally- run cities shall settle complaints about their decisions as well as decisions of the presidents of the district-level People�s Committees on settling the first-time complaints about sanctions against administrative violations in the field of accounting;

b/ Chief financial inspectors shall settle complaints about their decisions as well as decisions of the inspectors of the same level on sanctions against administrative violations in the field of accounting;

c/ The directors of the Finance-Pricing Services of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall settle complaints about decisions of the chief inspectors of the provincial/municipal Finance-Pricing Services on settling complaints about sanctions against administrative violations in the field of accounting;

d/ The Finance Minister shall, according his/her function and powers in the State management over accounting, settle complaints about decisions of the presidents of the People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities, the directors of the provincial/municipal Finance-Pricing Services and the chief financial inspector of the Finance Ministry, on sanctioning administrative violations in the field of accounting.

V. COMMENDATION, DISCIPLINE

1. Commendation

Individuals and organizations that have merits in the following shall be considered for commendation:

+ Detecting and denouncing individuals and organizations that commit acts of administrative violation in the field of accounting;

+ Preventing violations, limiting the serious consequences caused by administrative violations in the field of accounting;

+ Directly participating in the examination, inspection, detection, issuance of sanctioning decisions and urging for implementation of the sanctioning decisions effectively. Such persons shall all be considered for timely commendation (both materially and spiritually) according to the State�s regulations.

2. Discipline

Those who have competence to handle administrative violations in the field of accounting but commit acts of administrative violations in the field of accounting or fail to abide by the provisions on sanctions against administrative violation in the field of accounting shall, depending on the nature and seriousness of the violations, be disciplined or examined for penal liability; if damage is caused, the compensation must be paid according to the current law provisions.

VI. IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION

This Circular takes effect as from the effective date of the Government�s Decree No.49/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999.

If any problems arise in the course of implementation, the units are requested to report them in time to the Finance Ministry for study and settlement.

For the Finance Minister

Vice Minister
TRAN VAN TA